Research
Urban Ecology
The number of people living in cities has exploded over the last fifty years. With this has come changes to the habitats in and around cities. I am interested in the ways that wildlife change/alter behaviors in these new habitats and how these changes might impact their evolutionary trajectories. My colleagues and I have analyzed songs from Spotted Towhees with a 40 year gap in time to assess if these bird populations have altered their vocalizations as their environment has changed from quiet streets to loud highways.
​
My research also considered the human-wildlife interface and the ways that humans alter wildlife habitats which then in turn alter human experiences with wildlife. In a collaborative project, we show that historical racial segregation in the US (redlining) practices have impacts on todays current noise conditions and the wildlife who inhabit these neighborhoods.
Published literature from this project (click the title to download the paper):
Image by Pixabay at https://www.stockvault.net/photo/204694/mockingbird-on-the-branch
Avian Communication
As an ornithologist, I am interested in understanding the functions of certain avian behaviors. Most of my work has explored the function of song and song form on individual success. Recently, my colleagues and I published our work on the rare but widespread behavior of singing on the nest by female Northern Mockingbirds during incubation.
Published literature from this project (click the title to download the paper):
Northern Colorado American Robin Project
This research project investigated the behaviors of one of the most proliferate "urban birds", the American Robin in a rapidly urbanizing area. I use leading techniques to measure noise, light, and landscape along an urban to rural gradient to understand how this species is responding to environmental changes.
Published literature from this project (click the title to download the paper):
Student perceptions of social issues in ecology
We conducted pre and post surveys to gain a sense of whether students perceive the impacts that racism, sexism, or colonialism has had on the field of ecology. We developed and deployed an exploratory class intervention to introduce students to these ideas, collect data on trends in ecology, identify patterns, and brainstorm solutions.
Barriers to success in Biology Doctoral Students
We surveyed 289 current biology doctoral students in 2020 with the goal of understanding the barriers that doctoral students perceive to their degree completion. We measured their Grit (as passion and persistence), Science Identity and Sense of Belonging to identity whether these factors contribute to whether doctoral students perceive more or less barriers.
Published literature from this project (click the title to download the paper):
